Characteristics of A Healthy Believer
John 10:10
Here we are just 3 weeks inside of 2008 and already we have laid much spiritual groundwork for where God wants to lead us this year. In our state of the church address we spoke of the change necessary to fulfill God’s ministry and mission for the HBC family. When we finished this message, that night we took the next step and talked about becoming a “Jesus” church. I guess the first Sunday of 2008 was my Sunday for acrostics because (from last year) we renewed our look at a Jesus church using Jesus as the acrostic. Follow me quickly with this;
The J represents our JOY. Nehemiah said this, “the joy of the Lord is my strength.” If we are to truly be a Jesus church, the attitude of joy will permeate all we do. The E stands for encouragement. The Bible teaches us to edify or build up one another. This world is dying for some real encouragers. The first S represents sensitive. Our divine call from God is to be sensitive to the needs, hurts, and pains of others. The U teaches us to be unselfish. This call is for us to turn our backs on the common “narcissistic” attitude which says, “It’s all about me” and embrace the spirit of Christ who was so selfless that He sacrificed His life for the Church. The final S speaks of our service. We are taught that we are not to be slothful or lazy. In fact, I was recently reminded of a Charles Stanley sermon which said it is impossible for a true believer to be a slothful or lazy person. The reason is that everything we do should be done like it is being done for the Lord (because it is). It is should done with all our might, the best we can, and it should be done on time.
After these two messages of two weeks ago, last week Bro. Lee Thomas so clearly reminded us of our responsibility, our need, and our privilege of prayer. He gave us the impact of our prayers, the outcome of our prayers, as well as the content of our prayers. If people who are outside of Christ, lost people, people are their way to a place called hell are to be saved, it will depend on the prayers of people like us praying for them.
So, as a church here is where we are; We have been called to Biblically change what is necessary to become a Jesus church who is diligently praying for lost people. Please never forget this truth; “growth is not the objective, it is the outcome.” The objective is HEALTH.
If we are healthy as a church body, growth, both spiritual and numerical will be the natural outcome. This congregation has a full understanding about the importance of church health because just 3 years ago, you were called on to take a look at yourself in a “church health review.” While the results of that survey are incredibly insightful for me, as your leader, I submit that the CHR stopped short of its true goal. Here is what I mean.
What does a “healthy church” really look like? How does it happen?
This past 2 weeks I went on a journey to discover the answer to these questions. Know what I found? There are over 15 different lists of proposed qualities found in a healthy church. However, as I have read, studied, and prayed over these lists, I am convinced that the “experts” have missed an essential Biblical truth about church health. Remember, we are now comparing ourselves to the church & believers of the first century and as such, our answers to important questions come from principles, precepts, and passages in the Bible.
Here is what I believe I discovered. We can perform every evaluation & survey known to man, apply systemic solutions, & improve the quality of our organization, yet never have a healthy church.
Most of you recall that last November I caught Pneumonia and, in true Watts’s fashion, I then backed it up with sinusitis. It was a long 8 weeks for me. I’ll never forget what Dr. Morgan said as we were nearing the end of my meds. He said, “I want the bug dead not just beat down, but dead.” Too often in the church, we treat the symptoms and never get to the root cause itself.
From the scripture a couple of things are immediately apparent; a) Jesus wants all of His followers to be “healthy. Look at John 10:10, with me and follow along (read text and interpret). B) It is obvious, at least to me to be that THE ONLY WAY TO HAVE A HEALTHY CHURCH is to HAVE HEALTHY BELIEVERS. In science there is an axiom which says; “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” For the church this would means that the church is greater than the sum of its members. Generally I would agree, however it must be said that for this statement to remain truth the “members” must be fully functional. Thus, the believer must be healthy, all systems on go, all giftedness engage, every part of His or Her being ready for action.
So now the question becomes; what is a healthy believer like, what does he look like, act like, or talk like? If I am healthy in my faith as believer in Christ Jesus, what does this mean for ME?
How about a summary statement; “if I am a healthy believer, I am like Jesus.” Consider this, Jesus’ call to us is the same call that He gave His disciples. It is not “be good”, “live right”, or even “go to church.” Although each of the attributes will be evident in the life of a born again individual, it is not HIS CALL. Christ’s initial call to each of us is simply, “follow me.” Have you ever considered this call and its reach within the lives of the disciples as well as us today?
* If I am a healthy believer, then:
1) I love God COMPLETELY.
* In Mark 12 Jesus was asked this question, “what is the greatest commandment?” In verse 30 He said “love the Lord God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.” It takes no guess work to know that He was teaching us that our love for God is to be above our love for anything else. Were I to ask us today, “Who loves God?” quite likely every hand would be raised. However, were I to be able to ask God, “Who in here loves you?” Wonder what His answer would be? What is it that we do which exposes our true feelings for God? Two weeks ago we talked about the “heart,” how the human heart is deceitful above all, and then debunked the myth that one cannot know what is in another’s heart. The hard Biblical truth is this; according to the Bible, we can tell what is in someone else’s heart by listening to their words and watching their lives.
* When it comes to “love for God” what does our life say? Do people see us and KNOW that we love Him? Can they find Him in our everyday life? I submit to you that IF we love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, it will make an impact on our actions, activities, as well as our attitudes. Our words will be seasoned with grace. To please Him we will become more forgiving, speaking words of blessing, and let the whole world know what He means to us. Listen, a young man with a new bride does not have to be coerced into telling about this wonderful lady. It naturally works into the conversation.
2) I spend time in PRAYER. It is true that Paul writes, “Pray without ceasing,” and “I would that all men everywhere would pray, lifting holy hands…” however since we are called to follow Jesus, what is His example and teachings relating to prayer. It takes John Mark only 34 verses before He (In His Gospel) tells us about Jesus going off to pray. Jesus’ life was so given to prayer that the disciples that Dr. Luke, in chapter 11, records the disciples asking this; “Teach us to pray” and what follows is the Model Prayer. Jesus took every opportunity possible to pray. He prayed in the morning, evening, in the upper room, in the garden, lying on the cross, at every time and in every place Jesus prayed.
* The reason Jesus prayed so much was that prayer was His connection to the Father. (just like it is our connection) Prayer is communication and communication happens by conversation. Prayer is not simply “telling God what you want or need”, it is listening to God’s input in your life and heart. It is opening your heart to hear whatever God has to say.
* A healthy believer “hears” God’s voice. God’s voice may not be audible, but it is discernable to the believer. God voice doesn’t always tell us what we “want” to hear, He is notorious for telling us what we need to hear. It is in this time of private prayer where God forms or better said, “reforms” our character into HIS. Just as surely as our body needs protein to grow strong, so our spirit must have prayer to grow healthy.
3) I love all PEOPLE. Let’s begin with Jesus’ view of people as this must be our plumb line. From the beginning of His earthly ministry Jesus’ concern was for all people. In fact, it seems that Jesus was always brokenhearted over people. Scriptures record that He was moved with compassion about or that He wept over people. By the way, this is ALL people. There is simply no way to be a healthy follower of Christ and possess ongoing, long term, and unregretful, hate and malice in your heart. In fact, I will go so far as to say this; my heart is not big enough for hate and Jesus to reside there. And your heart is no bigger than mine. In fact, to raise this thought to a new level, I wonder if Jesus can reside in a heart where malice, gossip, & the like are in control.
* Jesus said we must love God with all our heart, soul, mind, strength, and without catching His breath He followed with the truth that we must love our neighbors as ourselves. Do you remember the story Jesus told to illustrate the “neighbor” principle to the “nit-picking” Pharisees? He told about the Good Samaritan. Please listen; because “all people mattered to Jesus” they must matter to us.
* Now, let’s get personal. This principle speaks of relationships. Obviously, we are told to love people who are lost, are not like us, don’t believe like us, nor dress like us, but today, let’s bring this home to us. In many regards we are a loving congregation. However, why is it that some will not sit in a room with others to study God’s word, why is it that some sit on the opposite side of the worship center, why is it that from time to time a caution is given to your pastor about putting two people together on a team or in a group? Sadly, I’ll tell you why. It is because we have lost our love for one another. Something happened in the past and we have had too much pride to repair the relationship. Here’s the outcome, you have become an unhealthy believer, have cause another believer to become unhealthy, given Satan an avenue of entrance, and have brought spiritual sickness into the family of God.
* There is no way to have a healthy church with unhealthy believers making up the body. When one part is sick, all hurt.
4) I love the CHURCH and the BIBLE. This truth speaks to two dimensions in our lives. It speaks to our commitment and our convictions. Jesus loved the church. Ephesians 5 tells us that He loved the church enough to die for her. He shed His blood that the church might be holy, pure, and blameless, without any spot or wrinkle. The unhealthy Christian causes spots and wrinkles in the bride of Christ. What do we do if we get wrinkles in our clothing? We put a hot iron there, to straighten out the mess. What about spots? If the clothes are good we will literally stop at NOTHING to remove the spots. Additionally, we’ll discard the clothes if the spot cannot be removed or the wrinkle straightened out. Jesus shed His innocent blood to cleanse the church.
* Based on His work and His words, He loves the church too much to abandon her in the time of need. Consider some ways I can show my love for the church.
* If I love the church;
==> I will not neglect the assembly.
==> I will not allow our life to be a spot or wrinkle in the body.
==> I will gladly protect the fellowship from attacks.
==> I will not speak thoughtless words about the body.
==> I will seek to be a healthy member of the body.
* If I love the Bible, I will spend time knowing and growing in it. I will prepare each week to learn something fresh and new God’s word. Remember, the Word of God is “living.”
* If I love the Bible, it becomes my textbook for life. That means Oprah has less viewers, Dr. Phil less patients, and the psychic hot line less calls. It means I seek answers in HIS WORD.
5) I am willing to TELL the STORY. It is amazing to me how many “believers” will express their inability to tell someone about what Jesus did in their life. Thirty three years ago I heard Jack Taylor say this, “one reason why modern day Christians are reaching the lost is because they are not really excited about reproducing their own kind.” The healthy believer is one that trusts Christ implicitly. He is certain of what Christ did in His life and is ready to tell is. He is so willing to tell it that He seeks for the opportunity.
* Somehow we have missed the memo. Bro. Lee reminded us last week, but here it is again; we are under command by our commander in chief to be willing to tell the story. Paul writes to the Romans that he is “obligated” and Peter follows by writing for us to “be ready to give a word for our hope.”
* In spite of our unworthiness & unrighteousness, Jesus reached down to us in our SIN. Can I give you a picture of this?
* I remember working in the barnyard with my papaw. We called the barnyard a lot. You never went into the lot without boots on (do I need to tell you why?). After a rain and having the cattle come through the lot was almost knee deep of “lot fertilizer.” As a young boy, more than one time one of the men has had to pull me from being stuck in the lot.
* Sometimes it was required to reach into the “muck” to free the boot. Now, that is the picture of what Jesus does for us when He reaches His divine self into my sin and frees me.
* Why would I not want to tell about that experience? A healthy believer is willing and ready to tell about the best thing in life.
6) I am willing to SERVE others. The healthy believer is also willing to serve others. He is keenly aware that the divine example, Jesus, made it clear that He did not come to BE SERVED but TO SERVE. Thus, the example we have from our Lord Christ is that of service, ministry, concern, and even care.
* Let me demonstrate to you how all of this works together. Walk through our list with me. To be a healthy believer, I must love God completely. This means, “with all that I am” I must love Him. We cannot love God without being obedient to Him and our obedience begins with trusting His Son Jesus with our lives. In Jesus we find forgiveness of sin, freedom from eternal death, and a future in heaven. Our love for God creates a desire to know Him better so we spend time, both quality and quantity time, in prayer. It is in these times that we get to KNOW God. We know His will and His ways. It is in prayer that God begins to remake us into His type of person. His type of person is one who loves ALL people. It is in this love that the Holy Spirit will force us to forgive people, forsake hate, and forge healthy relationships with all people. Loving God is still the key to becoming healthy. Because I love Him, both His word and His church become my bread and butter. The more I know, the more I grow, and the more I can show Him to the world. While I am on this path, I remain open to every opportunity to share this incredible journey God has given me. To top off what is already a pretty good journey, God implants in me both passion and desires of service for others.
* God has given every believer at least ONE spiritual gift and has SHAPED you for some kind of ministry.
Now, let me end with 3 or 4 questions for you to consider;
1) Are you even a believer?
2) If you are, are you healthy or unhealthy?
3) Which one of these systems is failing in your life?
